Solar panels will also be supplied for charging the phones in the event that there is no electricity supply. Many areas of the disaster-hit eastern coast of Japan are still without electricity.

The satellite phones will supplement mobile base stations that have already been driven to some parts of the affected area. Each of Japan's major cellular providers has a fleet of the trucks for just such an occasion. They provide a cellular signal over a local area and connect to the carrier's backbone via satellite.

In some areas, satellite phones have also been set up.

Friday's earthquake, the fourth largest ever recorded, caused widespread disruption to telecommunications services across all of east Japan, including Tokyo. Cellular service has stabilized in Tokyo and much of the region, but remains under strain, especially during strong aftershocks.